Ventilators are machines that support breathing by providing air or oxygen into the lungs. Some ventilators may supply an oxygen-rich liquid, such as a perfluorocarbon (PFC), to an air-breathing organism. Partial liquid ventilation (“PLV”) can involve infusing the lungs with a liquid, such as a perfluorocarbon (PFC) and/or gases while mechanical ventilation is provided with a standard ventilator.
There are situations in both human and veterinary medicine where it is desirable to rapidly reverse hyperthermia. Specifically, there are clinical situations where it can be important to be able to rapidly reduce dangerously elevated body temperature of the patient to near normal to reverse hyperthermia from heat stroke, drug or surgical anesthetic reaction, and febrile illness secondary to stroke, infection or other illness. Temperature reduction following events such as trauma, stroke, and heart attack can prolong patient viability by a reduction in metabolic rate. There are situations in both human and veterinary medicine where it is desirable to preserve the life of living tissue, organs or the entire mammal body by reduction in temperature and thus metabolic rate. Liquid ventilation can use the lungs as heat exchangers by pumping a chilled liquid and gas mixture into the lungs and, in turn cooling the blood as it flows through the lung tissue. The lungs have a very large surface area and have many blood vessels spread through them, making them very effective for both gas exchange and heat exchange.